Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy details involvement in flipping No. 1 QB Bryce Underwood

Belleville (Mich.) Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Bryce Underwood shocked the recruiting world last week when he flipped his commitment from LSU to the hometown Michigan Wolverines.

U-M had been pursuing him heavily for more than a month, but Underwood shared a post on Instagram earlier in the week that reported he was likely to decline Michigan’s $10M NIL offer.

A few days later, he announced his flip — complete with a hype video and merchandise ready to go.

The wheels had been turning for months on the move, according to Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who was part of Michigan’s revamped NIL efforts that landed them Underwood.

“I got a call from the Michigan football team,” Portnoy said Tuesday on Barstool College Football Show. “They said, ‘Hey, there’s this donor who wants to talk to you. I said that I’m doing this [landing Underwood] by myself and I don’t need to talk to anybody. And they said, ‘Please, this woman is a big fan of Barstool and you; she’d love to talk to you. Her name is Jolin. … They said her husband is a guy by the name of Larry Ellison, you ever heard of him?”

Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Corp., is one of the world’s richest people with an estimated net worth of over $240 billion.

The story of how I met the Ellisons, Bryce Underwood flipped to Michigan, and the future of Michigan NIL changed forever pic.twitter.com/g7chi35bs9

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 26, 2024

That night, Portnoy got on a Zoom meeting both Larry and Jolin.

Jolin, who considers herself a Michigan superfan, said she couldn’t stand the idea of the program being in mediocrity, as it was when she attended Michigan during the Brady Hoke era.

“She said, ‘I never want to live that era ever again. I can’t stomach waking up on a Saturday knowing we’re not the best team on the field,” Portnoy said. “Jolin said on that first call, ‘I needed somebody from Michigan to step up and show they cared as much as I did. And then it was like the mega powers united.'”

Conversations were going on for more than a month with Underwood

The trio of Portnoy, Larry and Jolin reportedly set up a call the next night with Underwood and his parents — all of this happening back in October.

They made a pitch that included representing Barstool Sports as a sponsored athlete, but also the idea of being connected to Ellison, the world’s second-richest man.

Over the next few weeks, the Underwoods considered the Michigan pitch, but also returned to LSU for Bryce’s official visit. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, the family’s lawyers reviewed the NIL opportunities associated with each program. LSU’s reportedly came out to roughly $1.5 million per year, while the Wolverines are said to have offered more than $10 million over a four-year stay in Ann Arbor.

After Bryce’s official visit, the family was reported to be on Michigan’s campus Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.

When Michigan’s offer was reviewed by the Underwoods and their attorneys on Thursday, the final yes was given to the staff in Ann Arbor. Back in Baton Rouge, the Tigers learned of the flip when ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news on live television. Soon after, the Underwood family reached out so LSU to inform them, according to The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon.

On Friday morning, less than 12 hours after announcing his flip, Underwood had already announced a partnership with Champions Circle and Valiant Management to release autographed trading cards priced at $1,900 and jersey T-shirts for $50, all available for pre-order.

Underwood was then in attendance last weekend for the Wolverines’ win over Northwestern just a few days after his announcement and is expected to sign on December 4.